Review Revue: fIREHOSE – Ragin’, Full-on

Honestly, I don’t have much to contribute to the Firehose discussion that you don’t already know or couldn’t figure out by visiting their Wikipedia page, which is one of the most anecdotal I’ve ever seen; it pretty much just reads like a barroom conversation with a dude who’s super into Firehose. I certainly admire Mike Watt for his bass wizardry and his many contributions to American music — not the least of which is his role as catalyst for Petra Haden’s brilliant a capella rendition of The Who Sell Out — but for whatever reason I just kind of missed the boat on the Minutemen, Firehose, et al.
Here’s how uncool I am: With all the essential bands Mike Watt has been a part of over the years, the only time I’ve seen him live is playing bass for Porno for Pyros. And it was great! Anyway, I’m obviously completely unqualified; let’s let some people who know what they’re talking about hold forth on the joys of Firehose. (I mean fIREHOSE. See, I can’t even write it right.)

“The two surviving Minutemen (Mike Watt & George Hurley) come back w/a new guitarist (Ed Crawford). But this isn’t a direct continuation of the M-men. The songs are longer, and Crawford’s voice is more poppish than D. Boon’s. But they’re still one of the tightest bands around. H!”

“Welcomed by KCMU to the Central!!! Sunday, Oct. 22.”

“Note: 1.5 [‘Another Theory Shot to Shit’] is not a red dot, but alter the title when you say it on the air.”
“Great!”